There will be a whole lot of Oklahoma Sooners flying from Norman to Indianapolis in a few weeks.
The NFL on Wednesday released a list of 319 draft prospects who were invited to the 2026 NFL Scouting Combine on Feb. 23 to March 2 as 10 former Sooners earned the chance to impress scouts at Lucas Oil Stadium.
The group invited to Indianapolis included wide receiver Deion Burks, linebacker Kendal Daniels, defensive tackle Gracen Halton, linebacker Owen Heinecke, defensive end Marvin Jones Jr., tight end Jaren Kanak, offensive lineman Febechi Nwaiwu, safety Robert Spears-Jennings, defensive end R Mason Thomas and defensive tackle Damonic Williams.
Even though players get invited does not guarantee they will participate, especially Heinecke, who is still battling the NCAA for one more year of eligibility with OU.
10 Sooners invited to NFL Scouting Combine
The 10 players are the most OU has sent to the combine in the Brent Venables era. Since Venables took over in 2022, a total of 13 Sooners had been invited to the NFL Scouting Combine before this year. The previous high was seven in 2023 after Venables' first season at OU, so many of those players were leftovers from the Lincoln Riley era.
It was also tied with Georgia and Miami for the fifth-most invites this year behind Texas A&M (13), Alabama (12), LSU (11) and Ohio State (11).
This dramatic increase is a reflection of the Sooners' stellar 10-3 season that saw them back in the College Football Playoff and is also another sign of OU being back to its standard under Venables of not only competing for national titles, but consistently producing flocks of NFL talent.
Of the 10 invitees, four (Halton, Kanak, Spears-Jennings, Thomas) were part of Venables' first signing class in 2022. Daniels and Jones were the only ones in the group who spent less than two seasons at OU. This means, as Venables prepares to continue off the Sooners' 2025 success, he's not only proven he can win in the SEC, but that he and his staff can also develop recruits into NFL talent if they stay in Norman.